All season, Jameson Taillon held the title of a comeback kid, trailblazing with a 9-1 record over 16 starts for the first half of the season. But over the last six games he has struggled— including last night against his former team, the Pirates, Taillon gave up an abysmal five runs. Has Jameson Taillon lost his magic as the Yankees continue their pursuit of their 28th World Championship only 10-days from the All-Star Break?
"Obviously it's concerning," Taillon told reporters Tuesday night in the visitor's clubhouse. "I need to figure it out and make a change. It's a results-oriented league, but at the same time, I feel healthy, I feel like I'm making a lot of quality pitches, but I'm getting burned it seems like every outing on a couple of pitches with runners on especially. I don't want to go change anything drastic, but it's probably also time to go peel it back a little bit and see what's going on," reported SI.com.
Taillon will pitch again on the road against the Red Sox on Sunday. Between now and then he will analyze his pitching, "peel back the layers" as he suggested in his post-game interview, and see where he can improve. Taillon also admitted that his inability to find his four-seam fastball against a Pirate lineup with eight left-handed hitters made an impact on his performance.
"Just a couple more mistakes in a game and tonight they hit it in the seats or for extra bases," Boone said. "Maybe just not quite as sharp with some command things, that usually is his calling card. But that's also the ebb and flow of the season too where that's gonna happen," reported SI.com.
The Yankees' offense is also at fault, and perhaps a late scratch by big-time performer Anthony Rizzo was an omen for the team. "Rizzo, who spent 9.5 seasons playing in the National League Central as a member of the Cubs, has always enjoyed hitting at PNC Park and against the Pirates. He has 30 career home runs against Pittsburgh, his second-most against any team. Only the Reds (34 HR) have surrendered more longballs to the 32-year-old," reported SI.com.
But as I have been saying, it can't come down to one pitcher, one bat, one guy to carry a team to victory. The Yankees' offense was essentially dead against a weak team in the National League. And these are the games that the Yankees simply need to win. Let's hope they can come back swinging tonight at PNC Park, to even out the short two-game series against the Bucs. And that Jameson Taillon makes his tweaks and brings back the magic against the Sox on Sunday.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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